Inside the Moon
Enchanted Auction A2
Santa Visits Island A2 Issue 660
The
Island Moon The voice of The Island since 1996
December 8 2016
Around The Island
By Dale Rankin The Island is a coiled spring as of this writing, waiting with what passes for anticipation on our little sandbar for Cold Front Christmas (the third of the year) to come busting in over the Laguna and blow the north side of our palm trees flat for a couple of days. But if the Weather Wonks get it right the 42nd version of the La Posada Lighted Boat Parades will go off Friday and Saturday under cloudy skies with ten mile per hour winds, moderate temperatures and less than a ten percent chance of rain. That passes for Chamber of Commerce Weather this time of year. By Friday Island weather should regress to the Island Weather Mean and by Saturday the wind will lay down and temperatures will fluctuate between 50 and 70 degrees. That sounds about like last year with maybe a bit less wind. The number of boats in the Saturday parade, traditionally the larger of the two, has been down the last few years as more people have opted for deck parties rather than making the rounds in lighted boats. When the weather threatens it’s much safer to stick close to the fireplace and the bar than venture out on the water. But alas, it is a boat parade we are after so get out there and light it up if you can.
Aquarius Dragway It has been but a few years since the opening of the Aquarius Extension made the final connection between Commodores and Whitecap as imagined by the original Island planners. They elected to make a tradeoff that we are now paying for. They had the choice of either including sidewalks in their plans or adding more park land and they chose the latter. The tradeoff for not building sidewalks was additional park land to be maintained by the city. The original designers also incorporated three thoroughfares running north to south with Aquarius being one. Then the decision was made to eliminate an Aquarius bridge that left a bifurcated road with the final piece of the puzzle being the Aquarius Extension. The result of all that is that Aquarius from Commodores to Whitecap has become a main Island traffic artery without sidewalks. At the Island Strategic Action Committee meeting Tuesday night a lady who owns a home on Aquarius said drivers have been passing stopped school buses on the right-hand side and high-speed traffic has become a daily problem as walking lanes are separated from traffic by nothing but a white line on the roadway. So far the only casualty has been a dog but as things now stand the interaction between vehicles and carbon units is headed for trouble. It’s an issue that is only going to become more profound and will not solve itself.
Then there’s this As we all know we live on an Island that is smack dab in the middle of active smuggling lanes between the producers of illicit products south of the Rio Bravo and consumers of same said products north of it. We hear stores but generally don’t address them in these pages; it is what it is. A few weeks ago we reported that a bundle of those products washed up on the beach at the Michael J. Ellis Seawall and was duly turned over to police. But as the story goes, and confirmed by those hired to catch the smugglers, there was more than one bundle that found its way to local beaches but didn’t end up in the hands of law enforcement. Put it this way, if your friend who for years has struggled to pay his mortgage drives up next week in a new Bentley he may have been the person who found one of the bundles on the beach. And that’s about enough about that. It’s time to La Posada everybody. Say hello if you see us Around The Island
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Hats off at La Posada Kick-off
By Brent Rourk
Where else but our Island can you find such a large group of generous people dedicated to giving and making Christmas a little brighter for others? Judging from last night’s success at the La Posada Kick-Off Party many less fortunate children in the Coastal Bend will have a nicer Christmas. The La Posada Foundation’s annual La Posada Kick-Off Party raised over $14,000 on Tuesday evening at Scuttlebutts through silent and live auctions. Dozens of local businesses donated incredible gift items including BBQs, massages, gift baskets, vacations, art items, and more. Proceeds from the auctions will
go to the United States Marine’s Toys for Tots program. Within a couple of weeks, Marines will dispense toys to hundreds of children in the Coastal Bend. The Kick-Off Party was marked by an enthusiastic crowd, fine food and drink, terrific music, and an efficient group of volunteers from the La Posada Committee and the Padre Island Yacht Club. The Scuttlebutts crew as usual helped make the evening a huge success. La Posada Foundation President Doug Seefeldt commented, “What a great and night we had at the La
Kick-off cont. on A4
Island Chef's Con-Quest
The Origin of the Lighted Boat Parade Editor’s Note: The 42nd version of the La Posada Lighted Boat Parade will take to Island canals Friday and Saturday nights, December 9-10. For a complete rundown of events and parade routes see the information in this issue. But how did the parade begin? What was the origin of this Island tradition? For an answer we went to longtime Islander Mary Spolans. Here is her story.
By Mary Spolans Way back in the foggy ruins of history in the 1970s the stars were out on a windless night when a group of friends including Bob and Cherie Holiday were gathered at Jack and Marian Lavers house on Dorsal. Nan and John Paramore came cruising by on their 32-foot boat lit up with Christmas spirit with lights on the
Origins cont. on A4
Tortuga Dunes Plans By Dale Rankin As the likely new owner of the long stalled Tortuga Dunes development bordering Zahn Road and the Gulf Beach north of Packery Channel Developer Jeff Lamkin says he could have the mixed-use residential and retail site up and running as early as Summer 2017.
“Right now our plan is to keep it as Planned Use Development (PUD),” Lampkin said, “which would include retail space along Zahn Road, single-
“It just depends on how things work out,” Lamkin said at the Tortuga Dunes office last week. “If everything falls into place we could have at least part of the development up and going by this summer, or it could be the summer of 2018. We won’t know for certain until we take possession of the property.
Island Moon Columnist Wins on Food Network! Island Moon food columnist and owner of A La Mode gelateria Chef Vita Jarrin went national last week when she competed on the Cooks vs. Cons show on the Food Network and beat three other contestants by cooking her lasagna and making bread pudding out of donuts. Way to go Vita!
A little Island History Although Spaniards had visited Padre Island before 1766, Diego Ortíz Parrilla's inspection of The Island in that year was one of the first detailed reconnaissances. His report is one of the first accounts, if not the first, of The Island that has survived. A transcript of the document is located in the University of Texas Archives among the Dunn Transcripts. Mr. Ricardo Torres-Reyes of the Office of History and Historic Architecture, National Park Service, provided the following translation.
Year of 1767 Deposition of the writs and inquiries made by Col. Don Diego Ortíz Parrilla about the conditions of
Lamkin said he has the 137-acre tract under contract from the previous owners, the Forestar Group, and if things move as expected he will take full possession of the property by the end of 2016. About 70 acres of the site was deeded over to the Mollie Beattie Coastal Habitat Community by the previous owner to be preserved in perpetuity as wetlands. The remainder of the site, an L-shaped tract of about 66 acres, runs from State Highway 361, along the north side of Zahn Road, then parallel to and including the dune line along the Gulf Beach, a possible location for a beach bar/restaurant operation.
Jeff Lamkin family residence along the dunes, and retail space behind the dunes on the Gulf Beach in the center of the property.” Development at the site stalled in 2010 when the cost of flood insurance soared to an estimated $5000 per month due to the property being located in a Coastal Barrier Resources Act (COBRA) zone which
Tortuga cont. on A4
Padre Island in the Year 1766 the Malaquittas Island, commonly known as Isla Blanca. Decree: Real de Santa Petronila, September twenty two of the year one thousand seven hundred and sixty six. The ensigns Don Joseph Antonio de la Garza and Don Eugenio Fernández and the Padro Matheo Martínez certify as follows everything performed and observed from the thirteenth of the present month when they began the reconnaissance of the Island of San Carlos of the Malaquittas until last night when they arrived in this camp, carrying out with clarity and precision all the instructions and advice issued in the written orders they received. Don Diego Ortíz Parrilla
Carrying out the above mentioned orders, we the ensigns Don Joseph Antonio de la Garza, Don Eugenio Fernández, and the Patro Matheo Martínez certify, and if necessary swear, that having departed the thirteenth of this month to reconnoiter the Island of San Carlos de los Malaquittas, with twenty four soldiers and nine Indians from the Don Diego Ortíz Parrill missions of Rio Grande, and with instructions Report: dated the same date, declare: that Colonel and Commandant of this having gone to the said Island of expedition:
1766 cont. on A4